Baffle

Baffle
Baffle Baf"fle (b[a^]f"f'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Baffled} (-f'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. {Baffling} (-fl[i^]ng).] [Cf. Lowland Scotch bauchle to treat contemptuously, bauch tasteless, abashed, jaded, Icel. b[=a]gr uneasy, poor, or b[=a]gr, n., struggle, b[ae]gja to push, treat harshly, OF. beffler, beffer, to mock, deceive, dial. G. b["a]ppe mouth, beffen to bark, chide.] [1913 Webster] 1. To cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a recreant knight. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

He by the heels him hung upon a tree, And baffled so, that all which passed by The picture of his punishment might see. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]

2. To check by shifts and turns; to elude; to foil. [1913 Webster]

The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim. --Cowper. [1913 Webster]

3. To check by perplexing; to disconcert, frustrate, or defeat; to thwart. ``A baffled purpose.'' --De Quincey. [1913 Webster]

A suitable scripture ready to repel and baffle them all. --South. [1913 Webster]

Calculations so difficult as to have baffled, until within a . . . recent period, the most enlightened nations. --Prescott. [1913 Webster]

The mere intricacy of a question should not baffle us. --Locke. [1913 Webster]

{Baffling wind} (Naut.), one that frequently shifts from one point to another. [1913 Webster]

Syn: To balk; thwart; foil; frustrate; defeat. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Baffle — can refer to: * Baffle (Speaker system enclosure or referred to as Cabinet) * Baffles (submarine) * Sound baffle * Baffle gate , which is a Turnstile * Baffle (game show) and All Star Baffle, a 1973 74 NBC daytime TV game show that was a revival… …   Wikipedia

  • baffle — [ bafl ] n. m. • 1948; mot angl. « écran » ♦ Panneau sur lequel est monté le diffuseur d un haut parleur et qui permet de séparer le rayonnement de la face avant du haut parleur de celui de la face arrière afin d améliorer la sonorité. Recomm.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Baffle — Baf fle, n. 1. A defeat by artifice, shifts, and turns; discomfiture. [R.] A baffle to philosophy. South. [1913 Webster] 2. (Engin.) (a) A deflector, as a plate or wall, so arranged across a furnace or boiler flue as to mingle the hot gases and… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • baffle — [v1] perplex addle, amaze, astound, befuddle, bewilder, buffalo*, confound, confuse, daze, disconcert, dumbfound, elude, embarrass, faze, floor*, get, mix up, muddle, mystify, nonplus, puzzle, rattle, stick*, stump*, stun, throw; concepts 7,19,42 …   New thesaurus

  • baffle — [baf′əl] vt. baffled, baffling [16th c. Scot; prob. respelling (as duff for dough, Affleck for Auchinleck) of obs. bauchle] 1. to confuse so as to keep from understanding or solving; puzzle; confound 2. to interfere with; hinder; impede 3. to… …   English World dictionary

  • Baffle — Baf fle, v. i. 1. To practice deceit. [Obs.] Barrow. [1913 Webster] 2. To struggle against in vain; as, a ship baffles with the winds. [R.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • baffle — I verb balk, befog, beguile, bewilder, bluff, bother, check, circumvent, complicate, confound, confuse, cross, defeat, discomfort, disconcert, dismay, disrupt, evade, flummox, fool, frustrate, fuddle, hoax, hinder, impede, incommode,… …   Law dictionary

  • Baffle —   [bæfl, englisch] der oder das, s/ s, Vakuumtechnik: Prallfläche …   Universal-Lexikon

  • baffle — → bafle …   Diccionario panhispánico de dudas

  • baffle — balk, circumvent, outwit, foil, thwart, *frustrate Analogous words: *puzzle, mystify, confound, dumbfound: discomfit, rattle, faze, *embarrass, disconcert: *confuse, addle, muddle: *hamper, fetter, hog tie: *hinder, impede, obstruct, block …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

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